A football game in a truly arcade style, Midways Red Card quickly abandons realism and accurate simulation in favour of exaggerated moves, over-the-top tackles and, at times, sheer violence. Fortunately, its a cocktail not without reward. Grounded on what is effectively a simple mixture of pass, tackle and shoot--all moves are suitably intuitive and easy to get to grips with--the basic game is quite an enjoyable kick-around. The differential, though, comes with the "Boost" button. By holding this as you tackle, you can, quite literally, fly-kick your opponents off the ball. While shooting? Get ready for a Matrix-style slow-motion build up before launching an explosive effort towards goal. Suffice to say, there are plenty of little moves to master, and youre going to have a lot of fun learning them. Yet whilst this could easily turn out to be short-lived fun, Midway have injected Red Card with a few extra goodies to ensure a longer play life. The World Conquest mode, for instance, allows you to take control of a national side and quite literally beat off the best of the world, while cup tournaments and the simply essential multiplayer mode further enhance the entertainment. Throw in extra teamss to unlock and theres a fair challenge packed onto the disc. So dont be fooled by the seemingly over-the-top approach of the game. In the arcade football genre, it easily beats Segas tepid Virtua Striker series, and it also gives more mainstream titles a real run for their money. In short, it is a really quite surprising, and irresistible, hybrid of sporting and fighting games. --Simon Brew